Amina

Amina, also known as Amina of Zazzau, was a Hausa warrior queen of the city-state of Zazzau, in what is now northern Nigeria, traditionally dated to the 16th century, though the precise period of her rule is debated among historians given the largely oral nature of the sources. Tradition credits her with leading Zazzau's armies on extensive military campaigns that expanded the kingdom's territory and trade routes across the Hausa lands, and with ordering the construction of the fortified earthen walls, known as Amina's walls, that came to surround many Hausa cities as a defensive innovation. Though many details of her life survive only through oral tradition and later legend, she remains one of the most celebrated women rulers in West African history.